The PVA: AUC's Middle Child

Today, I seriously wished I had my camera on me. I went to use the bathroom in the PVA building and was shocked. It was unbelievably dirty: puddles of water surrounded the toilets, and in them dirt and ashes. Soaked toilet paper, and dirty footsteps everywhere. Whatever happened to AUC's toilet standards? And why is the PVA building the winner among dirty and partially unfinished toilets on campus?

As I asked around my theater and arts friends, who spend most of their time in the PVA, it became clear that this is one of the least taken care of buildings. The girls as well as the guys bathrooms are dirty most of the time. A friend even reported feces on the ceiling in the men's bathroom.

I'm figuring that the men's bathrooms all over campus are generally dirty because of all the workers who use them, too. But the PVA is a special case.

The BEC building's toilets are surprisingly ok compared to those of the arts department, and that is not because art students tend to be messier than business or economics students. I saw service people patrolling the facilities of the BEC building and yelling at employees if something was wrong. But in the PVA, nobody seems to care.

Unfortunately it is not only the bathrooms that are being neglected by service personnel. Some classrooms aren't ready yet and the little theater spaces of the PVA are designed by someone who clearly never went to a theater play. Open windows, white ceilings and reflecting spaces were criticized by students and faculty. For them, a very clear no-no when it comes to designing a theater.

So, how come the PVA is in such a bad state. My theory is that it is AUC's middle child, that doesn't get the attention it deserves. The administration seems to have forgotten, that AUC stands out because of its liberal arts departments. "Liberal arts" ! That includes the word "arts". Our extraordinary arts programs, be it theater, music or art are what distinguishes us. They are what makes it so special.

And yes, artists might not end up making a lot of money or being very profitable for AUC, but is that a reason to abandon such a talented child?

Monsoon... in Cairo?

A friendly "helper" pours water down the pipe next to the bucket, which

leads straight into my room

When I sat, studying in my apartment yesterday morning, all hell broke loose outside. Bucket loads of rain came down on Cairo and people and streets were overwhelmed with the amount of water. After watching the cars swim by my window for five minutes, I remembered to check whether all windows are closed - which they were.... BUT...

When I went into my room to check, I saw that a little lake had gathered under my bed and everywhere, soaking through everything that was lying on the ground, including carpets, matrasses, shoes etc.. Realizing that my windows aren't isolated properly and that my ceiling is leaking, I rolled up my sleeves and turned to clean up the mess.

Next day -today- my flatmate tries to fix the problem and has someone come on the roof to remove the water that is leaking through my ceiling. To do that, they pour the water down a pipe.... which leads right into my room.

The view from my room: You can see the sunlight

coming through the pipe.

So, while I sit doing schoolwork - again - I hear water pouring into the apartment. I run into my room and discover that every bucket of water that they are pouring down the pipe run straight into my room. The pipe was open! As I looked up I could see the sky through the pipe. Again, a lake gathered in my room - just this time it was MUCH bigger - and I went to clean up the mess - again... ( luckily our neighbor lent us her maid for half an hour to help us out).

So much, for Egyptian buildings being made for rain. I guess, nobody takes these things into account while building a house since it hardly rains in Cairo (maybe one week per year).

As I'm dealing with all this at the meantime watching pedestrians and cars taking slalom routes to avoid the knee-deep puddles in the streets, I can't help but wonder, how AUC's new campus survived this first heavy rainfall. Sand on the construction site is bound to be washed away as well as maybe some pavements or parts of streets that lead to campus.

That brings me back to my previous post. After this rainfall, I'm sure the streets of New Cairo will be even more dangerous than before. But lets just wait and see...

The horrors of the daily commute

Photo by Business Week

As my flatmate and I were driving our daily 30 km commute to AUC's new campus in New Cairo this Monday, we faced extrodinary obstacles to get to our class on time.

Since the semester started, we already got used to the dangerous roads, the unforseeable speedbumps and the crazy Egyptian way of driving on the highway. But what made life difficult for us this time, was a huge traffic jam at the exit of the highway.

For no obvious reason, cars were standing still. In the midst of it all we spotted students and faculty in their cars and on the AUC shuttle busses. And no policeman in sight.

As we stood there, a car almost crashed into us on our left side, which my flatmate tried to avoid by going right, overlooking the bus that was to our right and now moved towards us, smashing the side of my flatmate's car. The driver who caused all that, didn't really care. Instead he screamed it was our fault and carried on driving, ignoring that he had just cost my flatmate at least L.E. 100 for repair.

When the AUC moved out into the middle of the desert, the administration neglected to make sure that students actually get to campus safely. The New Cairo roads that lead to campus are unsafe and an area of martial law.

With no policemen in sight, drivers are racing each other or hit-and-run after they hit another car.

On top of that, the hundreds of construction workers who work in the area are standing in the middle of the streets, making the way to campus an obstacle drive for students and faculty.

Aside from the people that stand on the road and kamikaze drivers, big holes and unpaved segments pose a challenge for cars and drivers.

As I see it, AUC has to find a way to enforce some basic traffic rules around its campus. People driving in wrong directions, racing each other and doing other crazy things... This has to stop.